Differences in Attitudes Towards Injury Prevention Program Participation Based on Race and Collegiate Division in Female Athletes.

CONTEXT: Injury prevention programs (IPPs) have been effective at reducing lower extremity injury rates, but user compliance plays a major role in the effectiveness of the programs. There is a potential that race and collegiate division may impact attitudes towards participation in IPPs and compliance in female collegiate athletes.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the study were to compare attitudes towards IPPs based on race and collegiate division.

DESIGN: Cross-Sectional.

SETTING: Survey.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and eighteen female collegiate athletes (Age:19.71±1.47years, Height:169.46±9.09cm, Mass:69.57±11.57kg) volunteered to participate in the study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants completed the Health Belief Model Scale (HBMS) and Theory of Planned Behavior Scale (TPBS) on one occasion. The HBMS contains 9 subscales (perceived susceptibility, perceived consequences, fear of injury, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, community led self-efficacy, individual self-efficacy, general health cues, external health cues) while the TPBS has 5 subscales (perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived social norms, social influence, intention to participate). The independent variables were race (white and Black, Indigenous, or other people of color (BIPOC)) and collegiate division (I and III). Mann-Whitney U tests were used to detect differences in attitudes towards IPP participation based on race and collegiate division.

RESULTS: White female athletes perceived less TPBS barriers to participation in IPPs (P=0.003) and more community led self-efficacy when compared to BIPOC female athletes (P=0.009). Division I athletes perceived more fear of injury (P=0.002) and more general health cues (P=0.01) when compared to Division III athletes.

CONCLUSION: BIPOC and Division III female collegiate athletes may need different implementation strategies for lower extremity IPPs. BIPOC individuals may benefit from interventions focusing on solutions for common barriers to participation and improving community led self-efficacy where Division III athletes may benefit from interventions focusing on education related to risk of injury and general preventative health behaviors.